Mary Did You Know?

Luke 1:30-41 (NIV) - "And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus."

There's a delightful and little known part of the Christmas story. But you need to read between the lines and use your imagination. Until the angel set Joseph straight, He thought that Mary had cheated on him. And so did the rest of Nazareth. Oh, how people in a small town love to gossip! The angel finally set Joseph straight. Gabriel, your timing leaves a lot to be desired! Why couldn't you have told Joseph at the same time you told Mary? He was in the same town, probably only a few blocks away. Were you too busy to make a second stop? Or did you totally forget to include him?

Although it was her first pregnancy, my wife knew that she was pregnant days before the test came back. She could feel the change in her body. I'm told that a woman can feel the change as early as 6 days after conception, when the fertilized egg attaches to the lining of the uterus (implantation). Mary was told by the angel that she would become pregnant. However . . . . it's one thing to be told, but quite another when it actually happens. How many days did Mary wait before she knew she was pregnant? She couldn't walk to the local pharmacy and get a home pregnancy test. There wasn't one. All she could do was to wait . . . and wait . . . and . . . Imagine the thrill when she first felt the change in her body! Imagine the paradigm shift in her thoughts and emotions when faith became fact! "It's one thing to have an angel tell me. But it's quite another to finally feel it! Wow! It's really true!!!"

The townsfolk never understood. In fact, years later they tried to kill Jesus by throwing Him off a cliff at the edge of town! (Luke 4:29) They probably continued to gossip about Mary being pregnant out of wedlock. But as the miracle child continued to grow within her tummy, I like to think that Mary was not overly concerned about what the ignorant townspeople thought. She knew the truth! And that's all that mattered.